In December we got the first photos of Amanda Seyfried as Elizabeth Holmes and Naveen Andrews as Sunny Balwani in The Dropout, a seven part Hulu series covering the true story of the Theranos scandal. Holmes is currently awaiting sentencing after being found guilty of four out of 11 federal charges. Balwani’s trial has been delayed and should start sometime next month.
The trailer for The Dropout was just released and it looks so good! Here it is and we’ll talk about it in a moment.
You can hear Amanda Seyfried’s voice gradually getting deeper, right? I didn’t imagine that? Laurie Metcalf looks so good as Dr. Phyllis Gardner, the Stanford professor who questioned the science behind Holmes’ idea and spoke out against her. William H. Macy is Dr. Richard Fuisz, the scientist sued by Theranos in 2011 for allegedly violating a Theranos patent. I barely recognized him! Stephen Fry is Ian Gibbons, the former chief scientist at Theranos. Utkarsh Ambudkar from Ghosts is in this too! He plays Theranos employee Rakesh Madhava. Seyfried nails Holmes’ crazy eyes and I love how unhinged she seems. The hair, makeup and wardrobe people nailed Holmes’ looks. I’ve seen the photos from some of the events they’re recreating and it’s spot on.
Seyfried is going to kill it in this role and I bet she will get a few nominations. The Dropout premieres on March 3rd. I’ll definitely be watching.
This series looks so good. I really enjoy Amanda as an actress and she looks like she just nails this part.
You’re not wrong, her voice got noticeably deeper when she’s talking to herself in the mirror. Sounded much more like Elizabeth Holmes’ voice than Seyfried’s natural speaking voice.
I think the trailer looks awesome, and that is a stacked cast! Definitely going to check it out.
She nailed EH’s faux deep voice!
As her clothing became more professional and less collegiate, her hair got messier and her voice got deeper. It was a really interesting way to depict her coming apart at the seams (not least of all because the real Holmes did the same thing).
This trailer gave me chills and I might have to figure out how to get Hulu.
Just Google Hulu and it’ll tell you. I have a fairly inexpensive monthly plan.
Holmes is exactly what a textbook sociopath would act and look like down to the least endearing smile I’ve ever seen. She is behaving as though she is playing a role as “Human”…like playing dress-up as an actual person.
Pretty sure that was the point. The mirror scene is her practicing the fake voice.
The hair needs to be way more brittle to be realistic. And the eyes aren’t… well ya know. I just hope this doesn’t portray her in a positive light or as a victim at all. This sociopath could have killed thousands.
I think an actress a little more statuesque would have been better.
Thank god they stopped her in time as she was trying to peddle her tech to developing world, starting with DC-based Intl Development organizations.
*Not for nothing, but I feel like half of America has her brittle fried hair from trying to maintain blonde dye jobs. I have a friend who will not stop dying her hair blonde and will not stop blowing drying her hair. (When you can) Air dry people!
Her hair matches her overall state of mental frenzy and delusion.
I only air-dry as well. Who cares what color your hair is if it looks like you sleep on a hotplate.
I don’t think they’re going for sympathy for her in this, they seem to be telling the story as it was reported in The Dropout podcast (& series of newspaper articles I think).
It’s always crazy how fast they make movies about what happened a few years ago. Between the trailer (who’s way too long and gives the whole story) and the fast that the trial just happened, I feel like it’s too soon
Great voice work anyway! I’ll watch that in 2/3 years lol
@Léna – It’s the drive to make bank while the story’s still hot – in this case though the story isn’t even over yet since there will certainly be more to learn from Balwani’s trial.
I agree, it’s too soon for this to be more than a rehash of what we already know. If you care about this story at all you won’t learn anything from this movie.
The story is already out there. Nothing is being “spoiled.” 🙂
Jennifer Lawrence dropped out of this..maternity?
Pretty sure it was a separate project. Lawrence is/ was attached to a movie version. But whether it’ll actually happen might depend how this one does
Kate McKinnon was originally going to play EH in this, she left the project and Amanda joined. As far as I can see, Jennifer’s feature film is still happening.
That trailer is epic! I wasn’t even interested in this story and now I am. But and maybe this is just a California thing but she appears to be jogging through the UCLA campus right before announcing she’s dropping out of Stanford. The architecture on those campuses is vastly different. It matters only because Stanford is the powerhouse school of Silicon Valley so it feels like an important detail.
That was the first thing I noticed too!
Am I the only one thinking it is a bit strange seeing Macy in a movie based on a real fraud case?
Wow i didnt even connect that,i think Macy did a good PR job of staying away from that mess. I dont even recall seeing him much during the court proceedings. I think him and Felicity decided only one of them should take a hit and they should try salvage atleast one career.
The only evidence the feds had on Macy was what Singer told them. But they had physical evidence (emails) of fraud on Felicity. He wasn’t charged because the feds decided they didn’t have strong enough evidence to convict him. It was the same with all the parents. Some, both got charged, others only the wife or husband. If one sent an email or were on a recording they got charged. But if they were lucky, and the only evidence, was just other people involved saying, yes, he paid me to get his kid in school, then no charges.
The podcast was amazing. Amazing how easily it is to fool people (and smart people at that) when they want to make a buck.
See NFTS?
I was listening to a talk radio show and they said they asked a rich person when they know they have enough money their response “when it’s just a little more”
They all had blinders on to greed and thinking Theranos was the next Apple. And nobody wanted to be the person that was left behind.
I was going to complain “how many versions of this story do we need” but that actually looks really good, and the cast is terrific. Hulu has a pretty decent track record with their originals too, so I will definitely check it out.
This looks interesting and I’ll still watch the Jennifer Lawrence movie. I’m not sure why since I can’t stand Holmes, maybe to see some unravelling.
Wasn’t super interested in watching this but that was a really good trailer and the cast is so good. Does Hulu usually drop all the eps at once or is it slow release?
I caught the documentary by accident (I heartily recommend it- it was very informative and entertaining). I will definitely watch this.
EH is so vile. She thought she was Steve Jobs and that her ‘people’ would miraculously present her idea with a tangible product. I’ve seen what’s already published and filmed about her, and she makes me sick. I might watch this after her sentencing. If she’s behind bars for a very long time, I’ll be able to watch with a smile.
I read Bad Blood twice and listened to the podcast and I can’t wait to see this.
Is it just me or is Naveen Andrews as Sunny Balwani a sad commentary on the lack of diversity in Hollywood. Naveen is 100x too good looking and too tall to play Sunny. I realize that there are prosthetics and method acting and that he very well could do a great job. My comment is more about the lack of options for someone to play a 50-something Indian businessman. Other movies have successfully cast actors from the Indian movie industry- why not here?
Amanda should make her eyes larger. The chick made her eyes bigger on purpose.
Her voice changing practicing in the mirror is crazy good, genuinely could not hear a difference between that and the real woman who better go to prison and not just get a slap on the wrist
Elizabeth Holmes won’t profit off this right? Otherwise don’t they need the right to her name and image to make a production about her?
Didn’t Shanann watts family sue Chris watts to ensure he doesn’t profit off any movies books etc. By filing a wrongful death suit? So you’d think she could profit off this or at least sue to prevent it?
I am so excited about this series!
I definitely recommend The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley. It’s a little mesmerizing how deluded she is. I’m sure I will watch this one too.